Soul Crush
by Paradocs
Summary: A new girl at Domino High has the ability to see spirits... and she's not quite ready for Bakura and Ryou. OC, Ryou, and Bakura. Rated for mild language, situations, and such. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

**Paradocs**: Usual disclaimer here. I don't own any of the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters in here. I do, however, own Saku and Rei and the scenarios used here. With a few exceptions, probably. -nods- Reviews are loved!  
And, just for fun, I'll tell you this: I'm not a great Fanfic Author. This is just a way of...venting? Venting. I s'pose.

* * *

Sakurea sighed as she placed her hand on the door to the classroom. Being new to a school sucked. She'd be lucky if she made it through today without any interruptions.

And there was always an interruption. Always.

Pushing open the door, the golden haired girl took a cursory glance around the empty room. Good. No one was there yet. Which meant no interruptions.

Rare enough, Sakurea, or Saku, as she preferred to call herself, mused as she took a desk in the rear of the class. Maybe this time, it'll be different. Maybe. Pushing her backpack under the desk (one of the few without any apparent signs of life), she sat down in the hard wooden seat, ready to have a few minutes of peace to herself before all hell broke loose.

And then the bell rang.

Domino High School was big enough. It was bigger than the last school Saku'd gone to, at least, but smaller than the one before that. Saku found herself watching the students as they came through the door, searching for something, some tiny little detail that others would normally shrug off.

And then she found it. A small boy with a pyramid-shaped pendant hanging from his neck. There was definately something powerful in him, and the pendant, Saku decided before shoving her glasses up her face. There was always one kid in every school, and trust her to get put in the class with him.

Still... it couldn't just be chance, could it?

Saku's thoughts were cut off by the last kid to enter the class. He looked like an albino- pale skin, long, wild white hair, tall, thin- but with chocolate-brown eyes. He seemed nice enough. That wasn't what made Saku's heart race, though. She could feel it, a dark, powerful force inside the boy. She shuddered involuntarily, looking down at her desk. This was not good. Not at all. Two in one class? Gods, what sort of mess had she gotten herself into this time?

_--Well, Saku, you could just, y'know..._

_No. There is no way I'm letting you out. Are you that ignorant?_

_--No, but if you like courting death, I s'pose I'll jus-_

"Mind if I sit here?" A voice tinged with a British accent asked.

Saku glanced up, her inner conversation halted, to see the albino looking over her, gesturing towards the desk next to hers.

"Ah, no, no, take it," she said quickly, trying to look happy and failing miserably at it.

The boy sat down, elbows on desk and chin in hands. "I haven't met you yet. You must be new here." He smiled. "I'm Ryou."

Saku blinked owlishly. Well, so much for trying to avoid people! "I'm Saku. I just transferred here from America." She smiled slightly. Experience had taught her that a shy smile could either a, dispell the conversation, or b, make it go on. Saku liked option a best.

However, it seemed that Ryou had taken no knowledge of either option; he continued to talk with her.

"America? Really? That's..." He paused, taking stock of her. "That's neat. We hardly ever get anyone from America here." Ryou smiled, a grin bigger than Saku's, but still small enough to pass as shy. "I transferred here not too long ago myself. I suppose that makes us both the new ki-"

The albino was cut off abruptly as the teacher entered the room. He scowled, looking down at his class roster, then looked up at the students. "Class," He began, sounding to Saku like someone who probably could use a few mugs of coffee. "It seems we have a new student here today. Sakurea, would you care to introduce yourself?" He stared directly at Saku, as did the rest of the class (save Ryou, who was watching the scene and looking rather bored).

_I'd rather not,_ Saku thought as she pushed her chair out and stood up. It was clear that the teacher wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"Hi," she began, putting her hands behind her back. "I'm Sakurea Tou, and I just transferred here from America." She gave a slight bow and sat back down.

_--Is that it, Saku? C'mon, there's a lot more to you than that! Why don't you tell them tha-_

_No. Is that clear enough for you this time?_

Saku pulled out her math book from her backpack, then, for good measure, grabbed her notebook and pencil, too. The math was easy; it was all review from last year. She stole a glance at Ryou. She could still feel the darkness coming out of him, but it seemed... suppressed, as if Ryou wasn't going to let it out. Saku sighed as she redirected her focus back to the notepad. She almost felt sorry for Ryou: all that darkness trapped inside him, and having to suppress it...

Well, not like she could do anything right now. Smirking with relief, she started sketching Ryou as she saw him. It was, after all, her favorite hobby, and a useful one at that.

Saku closed her notebook as the bell rang to signal the end of the day. She'd made it; that was a blessing. Heaving a sigh of relief, the girl pushed her glasses back up her nose (bloody things were always falling down!) and tucked her pencil behind her ear, just as Ryou turned to her.

"Saku," the boy ruffled his already-untidy hair with one hand. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat? You seem thankful enough that the day's over; maybe we should celebra-"

She shook her head swiftly from side to side. "Sorry, Ryou. I've got... I have to do something at home. It's very important." She adjusted her glasses so that she was staring at him over the lens' tops; an austere look she was rather fond of. The albino shrugged.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow?" Saku nodded, slinging her bag over one shoulder as she exited the room.

Well, alright, her excuse hadn't been a total lie. She did have something important to do at home. Mind, it wasn't something that anyone would consider 'important', but it was to her.

_-- You just wanted to get away from him, didn't you, Saku? the little voice in her head asked in its mockingly sweet voice._

_Shut up._ Saku trudged down the street towards her apartment, scowling to herself as she studied the sketch she'd completed earlier.

_-- You're scared of Ryou, aren't you? You don't want things to end up like last time, huh? The voice continued, completely unperturbed._

_I'm never scared,_ Saku shot back mentally, climbing up the outside set of stairs to her apartment. _Last time was a fluke. This time..._

_-- You only failed because you wouldn't let me out. Because you're scared of me._ The voice giggled silently. _-- And you know that's why, don't you? That's why you won't let me out again._

Saku unlocked the door, shoving it open. "I'm never scared, remember? And there's no way in all the hells on this earth that I'm letting you in control ever again." She threw her backpack onto the sofa, shoved her notebook into her pocket, hit the power switch on her laptop computer, and sat in the hard wooden chair she'd given over to being the computer chair.

It was an odd sensation, having an argument with yourself. Saku personally loathed it. The mocking voice, the inappropriate giggling, the urges to let something else control her actions: it was not something she was fond of, had never been fond of. But it was something she'd have to ignore for now.

Opening up the folder that contained her independent research, she selected the document that seemed bigger than all the rest. The words in bold at the top read **Dark Spirits.** Saku suppressed a yawn as she scrolled down her list. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Paradocs**: Yay. Another chapter. And I still demand reviews, people.

**Disclaimer**: see chapter 1, you morons. It still applies here. -gasp!-

* * *

Saku awoke the next morning to a surprisingly warm lap and sore chest. Groggily, she sat up from her slumped position on the desk and looked down. Dammit and gods curse it! She'd fallen asleep over her laptop last night while researching; definately not good, especially when you considered the fact that she now had fifteen minutes to get to school.

Tying her light brown hair back into a ponytail and shoving the laptop into her backpack, Saku raced out of the apartment three minutes later, so flustered she nearly forgot to lock the front door behind her.

_I must attract bad luck like a bloody magnet,_ the high schooler thought sardonically, racing down the (thankfully empty) sidewalk.

_--Last time I checked, I wasn't bad luck in the_ least_._ The voice grumbled in her head.

"Shut it." Saku snapped, not afraid to vocalize her questionable sanity.

_--I don't wanna! _

_Exactly my point._ Saku thought as she rounded the last corner to Domino High School. As she did, she bumped into a tall, lanky figure. He turned around, irritation flickering in his brown eyes for a split second before it was replaced by happiness.

"Careful there, Saku," Ryou said in his impeccably British accent, smiling slightly. "What's the rush?" Saku shrugged, adjusting her glasses ever so slightly as she fought to catch her breath. She really was an awful athlete.

"Gonna be late," she breathed after a moment, adjusting the collar on her turtleneck. She still hadn't bought the uniform designated for girls at the school; not that she could ever be bothered to. It was, in her opinion, too bright and showy. Not like her in the least.

Ryou shrugged in reply. "Don't worry; Yugi and his friends are nearly always late. Sensei's just glad they show up at, I think. Yugi's the short fellow with the pointy hair," he added, seeing Saku's puzzled expression.

Saku frowned slightly. How could this 'Yugi' boy house a good spirit and be so tardy, when timely, cheery Ryou held a dark one? Yugi sounded like one best avoided, and yet she couldn't side with a dark spirit...

It was all very confusing.

_--I know what you should do, Saku. You should l-_

Sakurea shook her head quickly, causing Ryou to adopt a sudden look of concern. "Are you alright, Saku?"

She stopped just as suddenly as she'd started. The very last thing she needed was someone thinking she was crazy. "I, ah, didn't get enough caffeine this morning," the girl lied, feigning a yawn as she spoke. She was an awful liar; Ryou'd have to be an idiot to accept that.

Surprisingly, he did, though the concerned look still hovered on his pale face.

"Is there any reason you're going to school on a Saturday? It's usually just mandatory for people who are behind, and I don't think you've fallen too far behind in one day, Saku."

Saku half-smiled. Well, didn't she look the moron now? With a nonchalant shrug, she pushed her glasses back up her nose to better frame her hazel eyes. "Honestly, I forgot," she admitted sheepishly. "I was doing research on my computer half the night, and when I woke up, I thought I was late for school."

Ryou chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Well, that's no fun. Research, you say?" Now it was his turn to look puzzled. "I wasn't aware we had anything like that due in school. I usually pay attention, too..." His voice trailed off.

"It's just personal research, Ryou." Saku shoved her hands into her pockets, fingers brushing against her notepad.

The boy teen's face lit up. "Really? What kind?"

"Aah... you'd think I was crazy if I told you," Saku said, backing away and closing her fingers over her notebook protectively. "I need to get home to do some more, actually..." Ryou frowned, looking concerned again as the tone in his voice shifted to something more serious.

"I would not. Believe me, if you knew the half of it, you'd swear I was crazy," he laughed, a nervous laugh that made Saku even more anxious to leave. Now.

"I really do have to go, Ryou. I'll see you Monday, alright?" Saku stepped further back, trying to put as much distance between her and her 'friend' before she made a break for it.

Ryou grabbed her arm, gently but firmly. His tone grew increasingly more worried. "Saku, you don't have to go home; we could go to the library, if you want t-"

"Get off!" Saku wrenched her arm out of her classmate's grip, sending her hand, and notebook, flying out of her pocket in her attempt to get to the safety of home. The pad flew through the air, landing in Ryou's outstretched hand. He looked at the page it was open to, looking rather hurt. The air was still with the sudden silence. Finally, the boy spoke, his voice nearly a whisper.

"Is this... is this how you see things?"

Saku shoved her hand back into her pocket rather forcefully, turning her face away from him. "...Yeah, I s'pose," she muttered darkly. What kind of a moron was she, letting her sketches fall into someone else's hands? He'd either think she was quite mad, rude, or both now. She knew exactly what he was looking at: the picture she'd drawn of him yesterday, slouched at his desk, chin in hands, a dark haze surrounding him. Exactly how she saw things without her glasses.

Ryou held the note book out to Saku. "I-it's quite good," he said, obviously forcing a smile. "Though I had no idea I was surrounded by smoke." His shoulders were shaking slightly, though Saku ignored it purely out of annoyance as she snatched her book back.

"Yeah, well, it's just 'cause you're full of evil," she muttered, unable to stop herself. What alcohol did to some, irritation did for Saku, with equally disastrous results every time. This time was no exception.

Ryou's face paled (as if it wasn't already incredibly white) at her comment, face tightening and shoulders shaking uncontrollably. To the uninformed onlooker, it would look like he was either about to cry or the teen was fighting anger. Saku, on the other hand, knew better. Much better.

"Aah, Ryou?" She said quietly, shifting the notebook to her pocket as she put her hands up defensively as she got slightly closer to her classmate. "C-calm down now. I-I didn't mean t-"

"Shut it, wench." A harsh voice snapped, coming from Ryou's body of all places. Ryou's white hair was more erratic and spikey now, his brown eyes strangely flat and tinged with red. Ryou smiled coldly. "Looks like you've done quite the number on my host, girl. Pity for you," he added, one hand flashing out to grab Saku's wrist.

Saku adjusted her glasses, allowing herself to look over them at this new version of Ryou. Her hazel eyes widened at what she saw. It was as though Ryou had become the darkness: it covered him from head to toe, forming a wreath around him. She shuddered, replacing them again as 'Ryou' laughed mirthlessly.

_Glad someone thinks I'm funny,_ Saku grumbled in her mind, trying to pull her arm out of the much-stronger grip, to no avail.

_--Saku, you're a laugh riot._ The voice in her head laughed. _--You're just too busy being serious to smile much. Now, c'mon, let's find out his name. Or are you scared again?_ It mocked her, pushing for the release it wanted so badly, and wouldn't get. Not yet.

Saku forced a wry smile. "Alright. You aren't Ryou, are you?" She said, amazed at how cool she sounded despite the fear that was clawing at her chest. She didn't like it when things turned this way. "What's your name, yami?" The girl used the word for 'darkness' easily, having learned previously that it had a more powerful meaning here in Japan than any other word with the same meaning.

The spirit laughed again. "'Yami'? My, what a _clever_ name for me, girl. I can see why Ryou was intrigued by you." The sarcasm in his voice was impossible to miss. He tightened his grip. "You can call me Bakura; it's something I've grown rather used to from my host and others." Bakura smirked. "You know, you don't look very nice smiling. Must hurt your face an awful lot, girl."

Saku winced at the tightness of the hold, though she managed to keep her voice calm. The fear was growing, and she couldn't let it control her. "Nah," she said sarcastically. "But this might." She kicked out at the figure, and was promptly lifted by both wrists into the air by the yami.

"Oh, come now." Bakura sniggered as Saku wriggled in pain and anxiety. "Giving me a good kick isn't going to bring Ryou back up, girl. I'm having fun here, and he's not going to interrupt that, no, not after you were such a little bitch to him." He laughed again. Saku rolled her eyes despite her fear. That was starting to get annoying.

_--You could let me play now. You don't need to get any more afraid than you are, Saku, _whispered the voice in her mind, suddenly changing from mocking to caressing. _--I'll even let you watch; wasn't that your problem before, that you could never remember? _

_No!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Paradocs:** So... as you were, folks. As you remember, Saku's facing Bakura (you know, Ryou's yami?), and is freaking out and arguing with herself.  
Just in case y'all were curious. Or lame.

**Disclaimer:** Still the same. I only own Rei and Saku; no one else.

* * *

Saku writhed in the air, wanting to scream in pain and fear. She didn't dare do that, though. Admitting her fear... it was something little kids did, or cowards. Not her, not Saku. And still, the voice in her head continued its persuasions.

_--Sooner or later, I'm going to take over, Saku,_ it purred. _--It's better you give in now. I can take care of Bakura; you can't, not in the least. _

_I said no!_ Saku screamed mentally, watching Bakura laugh wickedly. _I... I'm not going to lose control again, Rei. Can't you understand that?_

Bakura grinned a predator's smile, enjoying the fear he could sense in the girl. "What's wrong, girl? You aren't screaming nearly enough for my liking. Mind if I fix that?" He let go of her wrists, sending her towards the hard cement of the sidewalk, then grabbed her wrists again. Saku's glasses fell off with that motion. "I understand that there's a certain plaything that does that. I think you'll suffice for now." He chuckled lowly as her squirming increased.

Saku was scared now. She was beyond scared, actually. It was wonder she hadn't blacked out yet or started screaming, given that last time, she'd screamed until her throat was raw.

_--That's it._ The voice growled. _--You aren't a yo-yo, Saku. Do something, or I'll take over and leave your new pal a few bruises to toy with._

Saku's struggles weakened visibly as the girl managed to say, in a quavering voice, "Put Ryou back, Bakura. It's his body, not yours."

_--Wimp. You could've kicked him, at least. He's only a few inches taller than you, after all._

"Ah, but what if I don't want to, girl?" Bakura purred menacingly. "Ryou can't even keep his own bloody self safe. Nor can you, from what I can see. Fear, by the way," he added in a softer tone, "looks wonderful on you. Silly mortal." He set her down, not too gently, frowning slightly. "Now look what you've gone and done. He wants control again."

Saku rubbed her wrists ruefully. This was a bit of good luck, at least. Not that she expected it to last very long, given her history with luck. Deciding to dispell her fear by being assertive, she said, "Yeah? Well, let him. His body."

This only seemed to make Bakura more amused. He tipped Saku's chin up. "Ever heard of 'sharing', girl? It's not very pleasant, I'll admit, but there are some perks. One of which is that it's my turn with the body." The boy dropped his hand, letting Saku pick up her glasses.

"You don't know the half of it," Saku remembered Ryou saying earlier. Well, now she had a fairly good idea of what was going on: he had a psychotic soul living with him in his mind. For a moment, she was tempted to probe their shared mind: maybe she could find Ryou in there?

_--Right. Like you could do that; last time you tried, you ended up in the hospital for a week and expelled from school for abusing the kid. Though you could maybe get away with that now..._ The voice trailed off, leaving Saku with a brief glimpse of the memory. Saku shuddered. There had to be some other way of bringing Ryou back than that. She turned away from the malevolent individual, trying desperately to think.

"Saku?" A voice came from Bakura's direction after a few moments. "Saku, are you quite alright?" Saku felt a hand on her right shoulder and whirled around, grabbing the offending appendage with her right hand. It was Bakura- but his hair was neater, his eyes a chocolatey brown; he was even gentler looking than before. With a start, Saku, dropped the hand.

It was Ryou. He looked nervous, guilty even. Not that she blamed him.

It still wasn't going to win him any smiles.

"Fine," she lied, shoving her hands back into her pockets. "Why should it matter to you?" She turned away from him, barely aware that she was being unnecessarily rude now.

Ryou shifted himself so that he was back in her line of vision. Words tumbled breathlessly out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I really, really am. I just... I just got-"

"Stop." Saku said icily, cutting his babbling short. She stepped closer to the silenced boy, head tipped back slightly so she could look directly into his eyes.

Frankly, what Ryou had said disturbed her. He wasn't the first person she'd met who couldn't control their spirit, but he seemed to be fully concious of its presence; most people had no idea what was going on and passed it off as just being forgetful.

_--Well, looks like you've got a choice here,_ the voice interrupted, sounding strangely serious. --_You could forgive Ryou and forget the whole thing, or you could rip him apart._ It giggled. _--I'm betting on the first one. You never were too good at forgiving, much less forgetti-_

_Oh, hush up, will you?_ Saku growled mentally. She didn't need any advice from her own spirit. Not now, not ever. But...

She _did_ have a point.

"Ryou?" Saku started, trying to make herself sound more pleasant than she felt. "H-how about we tell ourselves that the last few minutes never happened, and go get a bite to eat?"

Ryou blinked owlishly as he stared down at the smaller girl's suggestion, then gave a tentative smile. "I-I like that idea," he said, sounding nervous, but cheerful.

Saku smiled shyly back. "Good," she said, then paused for a moment before adding, "Ryou, how good are you at lying to yourself?"

"F-fair enough, I suppose," Ryou blinked, seemingly confused by the sudden question.

Saku grinned. "Me neither."

Saku tapped her foot impatiently as the pair stood in front of a wall of vending machines, coins held in her right hand. "Aren't you getting anything?" She asked her friend.

Ryou's gaze snapped from one machine to Saku. "Oh? Sorry. I was just..." He ruffled his hair, embarrassed. "Having a chat with myself. Bakura's-"

"I'm _pissed, _thanks_._" Ryou growled suddenly, eyes becoming flat. Saku backed away from what she now recognized as Bakura. The yami laughed. "Don't be so scared, girl. Ryou's refusing to eat if I mess with you any further. And you've no idea how much food this body needs." He smiled maliciously. "I'd make him eat, but he's been quite stubborn about the whole mess. Fool."

Saku swallowed. A spirit listening to its vessel: that was a nice change, but Bakura still unnerved her. "Th-thanks, I guess," she said finally, watching the eyes fill back up with light. Dealing with a yami was not something she enjoyed; she'd rather have Ryou translating Bakura's thoughts.

"Well, he's listening, isn't he?" Ryou said, shrugging. "He hardly ever does that; he stabbed my hand once just to get me to hush." He rubbed the spot on his left hand where it'd happened. Saku grimaced.

"You can get rid of him, you know," she whispered, as if Bakura was listening somewhere.

Ryou laughed mirthlessly. "I've tried that at least a half-dozen times. Bakura's like a bad frisbee: he'll keep coming back until I'm dead." He sighed a little, shifting his gaze back to a vending machine that held pastries.

Saku winced. Okay. Definately not happy. For a moment, she was tempted to tell him about her own problems, but...

_He doesn't need my problems on top of Bakura's bullshit._ She tugged at the end of her ponytail thoughtfully.

_--Pft. Well, you've got his problems. Why not let him know why you're such a paranoid ninny? _The voice said quietly. Saku shook her head.

_I've already taken your advice once today. I think that's enough for a while._ Saku inserted her coins into a beverage machine, getting herself an iced coffee. Opening the cold can, she took a long sip before adding, _thanks, Rei._


	4. Chapter 4

**Paradocs: **Yay! It's the obligatory exposition chapter! And I'm not dead yet!  
Oh, hey, for those of you wondering: the voice _has a name!_ It's been mentioned a few times, but not really paid attention to, so that's the reason behind that Public Service Announcement.  
Now... go review!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bakura, Ryou, or anything in this story. Except for Rei and Saku. They're my O.C.s. Stealing them will mean a most painful death for you, the thief.

* * *

Saku dropped her backpack by the door and flopped down on her sofa. She was exhausted, and it was only noon; on a Saturday, no less. Groaning wearily, she leaned on her left shoulder...

And promptly sat back up again, withholding a cry of pain. _Should've expected that,_ she reprimended herself silently. Bakura had, after all, held her in the air for a bit by the wrists that morning; she was lucky she hadn't really noticed it earlier.

"Well, you always _did _have a high pain threshold," sighed a childlike voice from behind the couch. "At least you aren't in the hospital this time." There was an irritating giggle from the figure.

Saku rolled her eyes skyward, not bothering to turn around, as was had become her custom these days. "Glad for the input, Rei." She grumbled. "Now, can you get on this side of the couch? I'm not going to wrench my shoulder even more just to argue with you. You were out of line this morning."

Rei giggled again, floating into Saku's line of vision. A stranger would've thought they were twins, they looked so similar. A closer look, however, told you that it wasn't so: Rei's hair was a half-shade darker, more wild and bristly, and her solid, flat brown eyes had no glasses over them.

There was also the _slight _detail that Rei was semi-transparent. Not that _that _mattered.

The spirit hovered over the ground, smiling gleefully. "You can't blame me for trying to give you some advice, Saku. You were barely conscious around that Bakura guy." She sighed as though smitten by the hostile yami. Saku ignored her and stood up, looking away from her own yami.

"I was just _fine_, Rei. I...I just couldn't help but remember-"

Rei's facial expression changed rapidly to comforting. She floated over to Saku's shoulders, hovering around them. "Aww, poor Saku-chan!" She said sweetly, though Saku grumbled at the diminutive pet name. "You never were good at taking care of yourself! You can't forget those times, can you? First we met-"

"You beat me in a game of Duel Monsters and took my body as a prize." Growled Saku as she stalked towards the kitchen in search of an ice pack. Rei ignored her.

"And then you were expelled from school for confronting that little boy who just _happened _to have his mind controlled by a ghost-" She continued sweetly, following her host.

"You wanted to beat him to a pulp and took charge!" The girl snapped as she opened the tiny freezer she used.

Rei shrugged. "Worked, didn't it?" She said nonchalantly, then continued her summary. "Anyway... you went into a coma for two weeks..."

Saku shuddered as she reached inside, groping for the blue package of ice. "I can't remember a bloody thing between you taking control and waking up, thanks to you." She grumbled as she pulled out her prize.

"We went to that next school and you wouldn't let me do anything when that big dark spirit attacked-" Rei added accusingly. Saku snorted.

"I like my memories, thank you. And I didn't want to have another blank patch to deal with, Rei."

"You still ended up in the hospital in a coma for a month." The yami pointed out coolly. "And then you sealed me up back there for three months and wouldn't let me out until..." Rei grinned wickedly. "Until just now. What's with that?"

Saku pressed the cold gel to her left shoulder, ignoring the dual shock of pain and cold. She shrugged her right shoulder; no pain there, at least, though it'd held up for less time than the other. "I'm in pain and I'm on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Rei. Can you blame me?" The girl said as she leaned against the countertop.

Rei floated opposite, mirroring her host flawlessly. "I'm not blaming you in the _least_, dear host," she said with her usual mischievious grin. "I'm just curious. Is that so bad, Saku-chan? Is it so bad to give me just a few minutes of control?" She widened her flat brown eyes in a puppy-dog look that Saku chose to ignore. Instead, she looked out the window that gave them a view of Domino City.

"Enough of the 'Saku-chan', Rei. You and I both know we're here because my parents are convinced that I need some cheering up." Saku said flatly. "My life was just fine before you cropped up and decided to live in my head. I've been on pins and needles for the last two years, and I'm not about to let you screw things up here just 'cause you want to have fun. Ryou's enough of a problem with his psychotic yami-problems; you can just get out if you want a host that'll give you control all the time."

Rei smirked and glided towards the teen. "You're sulking again," she whispered as she bent towards Saku's ear. "All the sulking in the world isn't going to make me go away, and it won't make things better for you here, or anywhere else." The yami chuckled as she flew back into her body. Saku shuddered for a moment as she pushed the spirit back to her spot in the very back of her mind.

_--You should at least go chat with that Ryou fellow. I don't see why you didn't tell him earlier. He was waiting for you to tell him: it was plain on his little puppy face._ Rei said silently before falling silent. Saku turned away from the window and headed back for the comfort of her sofa.

_I don't open up very well, Rei._

_--That's because you're busy trying to be all serious. Try it._

_Only if you swear to keep quiet when I'm talking to him._

_--That's rather unfair. _Rei pouted mentally.

_It's my bloody story. And, for that matter, my body._

_--Oh, alright. Go on then. Go find your little Ryou! _Rei giggled, and fell silent again.

Saku rolled her eyes. "Monday. I'm not going to come off like some crazy girl just after I've met someone, Rei," the teen sighed, wedging the ice pack between her shoulder and the back of the couch, silently adding to her words.

_Monday. Bloody awful day. And a bloody awful story at that._


	5. Chapter 5

**Paradocs: **Yes, I lied to you last chapter. That was the _teaser_ for the exposition chapter!  
This one's the real thing... mostly. And it's rather long.

Thanks to all my reviewers thus far! And special thanks to the one who pointed out some...discrepencies in the first chapter. They've been dealt with. -nods-  
**Disclaimer: **There's no way in hell Bakura + Ryou are mine, or anyone except Saku and Rei.

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_Ding dong ding... _

_Ding dong ding... _

_Ding dong ding..._

Saku rolled over on the sofa, still fast asleep despite the fact that the doorbell had been ringing every thirty seconds for the last five minutes. Rei sighed as she floated over towards the apartment's door. Saku needed sleep after yesterday; didn't anyone understand that?

Peeping through the spyhole in the door, the spirit couldn't help but smirk at her host's visitor. Ryou. Or Bakura; she wasn't sure which one it was, as his appearance changed every few seconds. _--Way to have an argument with yourself, kid, _the ghost thought wryly as she went to wake up Saku.

"Oi, Saku!" She said, shoving her semi-transparent hand into the girl's shoulder. "Wake up time, kiddo! You've got company!" Rei really didn't like doing this: it wasn't fun, irritating, or even protective. It was just fair, and that wasn't very high on her list of priorities.

Saku's eyes opened, and the girl twisted her head so that she was glaring murderously at the yami over her shoulder. "I'm _trying _to sleep, Rei. It's a bloody Sunday, for gods' sakes." Shutting her eyes tight, the teen rolled back over. Rei rolled her flat brown eyes. Time for Plan B; that one might work.

_--You want me to make your little friend go away, Saku? _She thought as she melded herself back into the girl's body and mind. _--I haven't gotten to have control for a while, and it _is _a rather tempting ide-_

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Saku shouted, mentally shoving the (now giggling) ghost to what had become 'her' part of the mind. Getting to her feet, Saku pushed her glasses onto her face and stormed over to the door. She yanked it open angrily.

"What?" The girl snapped, too tired to bother being pleasant.

Ryou, for his part, looked rather surprised. "G-good morning, Saku," he tried politely, tugging at the sleeve of his blue-and-white rugby shirt nervously. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright after yesterday," the boy said, adding, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

Saku sighed and rubbed her eyes. Great. It wasn't enough that Ryou's yami, Bakura, had nearly dislocated her shoulder yesterday; now Ryou was here, and Saku'd promised Rei (at the cost of her personal control) that she'd tell Ryou about her own past next time she saw him. She'd thought that'd be Monday.

Now she had to be pleasant. And just when she was actually getting some sleep, too!

_I was right. I've got the worst luck imaginable. _

Saku gave Ryou a wry smile, opening the door a little more. "You did," she admitted easily, turning back to go inside. She looked back over her shoulder. "You can come in. Just give me a minute to get something in my stomach, 'kay?" Ryou nodded, stepping nervously into the apartment and sitting on the wooden chair; it was the only other seating besides the blanket-strewn couch.

An awkward silence presided throughout the apartment, neither party willing to say anything to the other. Saku was busily wrestling with herself about what she should do now; Rei had decided to be silent for once.

_I could tell him...but he'll think I'm crazy._ She grabbed a can of iced coffee from her fridge and popped it open. _Then again, if I don't, Rei'll make it her priority to take control and tell Ryou herself. And _that's _not going to happen._ Sipping the heavily-caffeinated drink, Saku walked back out to the living room. Under normal circumstances, she would've laughed at what she saw there: Ryou, looking more nervous than ever, sitting politely on a chair that looked ridiculously uncomfortable. Right now, it seemed normal enough. If normal even existed. Saku sat down, equally edgy, on the sofa, and tried a smile.

"I need coffee in the morning," she said, raising her can. "Otherwise, I'm about as much use as a dead duck." Bakura smiled, his just as nervous as hers.

"D-did you have any coffee on Friday?" He asked, looking slightly concerned. "You didn't introduce yourself to the class properly, you know." Ryou smiled again, a little less worried looking than his first one. Saku grinned.

"Nope; I was too worried about class. That, on top of..." She hesitated; her explanation was going to need another explanation at this rate. "On top of being a transfer student, and I forgot everything I'd learned about schools here. I owe Sensei an apology, at least," Saku sighed, looking down at her lap, momentarily overwhelmed by an urge to tell Ryou the truth. After all, there was no way she was getting out of this now, not at this rate.

"Ah, Ryou?" The girl lifted her head again, noting the slightly surprised look on the white-haired boy's face. "I..." Saku sighed again, standing up to better think. "I need to tell you something," the teen said after a second. Ryou looked rather confused, but said nothing.

Saku looked out the window, gathering herself before refacing her guest. "You've got a yami, a dark spirit, inside of you, right? Well," Saku smiled sadly. "I've got my own little yami.

"I was a pretty quiet little kid, growing up. I didn't play with anyone very often; I liked to read fantasy stories, ones where the dragons won or a girl ended up saving everyone against the odds. Pretty silly stuff now, but I liked it." Saku smiled at Ryou, who looked both confused and worried all at once. Saku continued her narrative regardless.

"At school, I got in trouble with the teachers a lot for reading during class. One teacher called my parents because she thought what I was reading was out of my depth. My parents ignored them, passed off my reading as being bored, but they always talked to me afterwards, told me to make friends in class instead of reading all the time. I lied, said that I played outside with my friends at recess, and they bought it. I couldn't tell them I spent what should've been 'playtime' in the library, trying to find more books and avoid the teasing that went on behind the teachers' backs.

"When I got to middle school, it got worse. The teachers didn't care what was happening between me and the other kids. Once, my drama teacher looked the other way while some of my classmates threw a book into the recycling bin. I didn't find out until the next day." Saku smiled wryly. "I guess that was my breaking point. I wanted to get my revenge after that. I wanted to be stronger, to show them that I wasn't some little kid they could step all over.

"Duel Monsters was just starting to get big when I was in 8th grade. I pestered a couple of guys I hardly knew until they agreed to teach me how to play. I absorbed everything they did or said. I built my own deck of dragons and magic-users that played to my strengths, and spent my allowance on new cards. They were my treasures; I kept my deck in my coat pocket, and only took them out in the library when I dueled my 'tutors'. When I finally beat one, I left them. I felt invincible: no one could beat me, not then. I was ready to face anyone at that point. Any kid I ran into in the hallway who had a card, I challenged. I got a reputation after a while: anyone who dueled me ended up getting beaten in one way or another. And, as a result, I ended up more isolated than before. Everyone excluded me, didn't even bother coming within three feet of me. Even my former teachers in the game stayed away from me, even warned others that I was 'off-limits'. I didn't care at first: I had respect at long last, and no one teased me anymore.

"When we started high school, I ended up more alone than ever. Any upperclassman who came close to me at lunch was warned by my peers to keep away from me. I spent my lunches in the library again, reading anything and everything. I taught myself Japanese so I could translate any cards that fell into my possession, but that did nothing to soothe my loneliness." Saku smiled quietly, looking down at the half-empty can of coffee in her hand. "I was fourteen, and I had no one to go to for help but my parents. And they weren't much help. I was an only child, and they were hardly ever home. Whenever we saw each other, I lied about school, about my friends, told them about Japan and my personal studies. Never anything real or concrete. I'd blocked out anything that hurt me at that point. I lived only to beat others in duels, to make myself stronger. Nothing else.

"One afternoon, I was walking home after a cursory visit to the game shop. I was in a bad mood: earlier that day, someone had called me a freak, and I hadn't been able to do anything other than curse in Japanese. I needed to duel badly. That's when I saw... _her_." Saku clenched her hands, bending the can of cold coffee despite herself at the hated memory.

"She was about my height, wearing a hooded cloak, standing in the shadowy entrance of an alley. I was ready to ignore her when she called out to me." Saku's voice faltered as she found herself drowning in the memory...

* * *

_'Bad day?' _

_Saku turned around, hands deep in her black jacket's pockets. 'What's it matter to you?' She growled, narrowing her eyes. The hooded girl giggled and ignored the question._

_'You're a duellist, aren't you? And a strong one, I can tell.' The girl giggled again. 'C'mon, let's duel. I could use some fun right now.'_

_Saku smiled thinly. She _did _need something to calm down, and this all-too happy sounding girl sounded easy enough. Shrugging, the high schooler followed the cloaked girl down the alley..._

Saku shook her head to clear it. "She challenged me to a duel, and I accepted. I needed the exercise, and she looked easy enough. She offered me a prize if I beat her: an earring. It was a pretty thing, shaped like a dragon out of gold. If I lost, she said that all she wanted was my friendship. It seemed like a deal I couldn't lose: I would win anyway, and maybe she'd be my friend despite that. I... had no idea." Saku closed her eyes momentarily, continuing to speak as she felt the memories wash over her.

_Saku collapsed onto her knees, cards scattering from her hand onto the concrete. The still-cloaked girl giggled as she leaned over the table to pat the golden-haired girl gently on the head. _

_'Aww, too bad,' she said sweetly as she pulled the earring out of her pocket. 'You put up a good fight for a kid; I had lots of fun!' She giggled again and tossed the jewelry over to the defeated Saku. 'Here. Keep it. You'll like it, and I've got no use for it.' Saku caught the glittering thing, looking up to see the girl gone without a trace. Saku stood up, grabbing her cards and shoving them into her pockets. After a momentary hesitation, she clipped the dragon-shaped accessory onto her right ear. Like the girl had said, she'd earned it._

"When I got home, I went to my room. My parents weren't home yet, wouldn't be until late that night. I'd see them tomorrow afternoon at best. Once I shut the door, my right ear started throbbing, burning even, and my head ached like hell. I heard giggling, even though there wasn't anyone else in the house.

"'_Friends, remember, Saku?' _The giggling voice said. I recognized it as the girl I'd duelled earlier but she wasn't there, couldn't be there. The giggling kept going, getting louder and louder and my head hurt more and more. I blacked out finally, and I dreamed.

"It was just me and the hooded girl from earlier. Everything else was black. I asked her who she was, and she laughed, said she was me now. I asked where we was; she said this was my mind, our mind now. _'Don't you remember what you agreed to in our duel, Saku? You said that if you lost, we'd be friends. Isn't that what you wanted?' _I was scared, and I yelled at her to go away, but she giggled, said she was just happy here for now and that she wasn't going anywhere. Told me to call her Rei." Saku shivered, wishing that Ryou would say something, interrupt her, but he hadn't said anything, just sat there listening.

Saku continued her story, voice growing more quiet. "I don't remember the next day. I woke up a day later, and my head was pounding. I was exhausted, thought that I'd slept through an entire day and that the whole thing had been a dream. Then Rei came back in. Called me a silly little host, disregarding her. Didn't I want her help? She'd taken care of me yesterday, after all. I was scared; I didn't know what she meant, but I said that I needed her. I felt stronger with her around. Rei giggled. _'Good. I'll come whenever y'need me, okay?'_

"The next few weeks were a blur: I remembered somedays, but there were constant blank patches, times when I'd gotten scared or angry and had let Rei take over. It worked well. My eyes were pretty sensitive all of a sudden, and I kept seeing flashes of light and shadows around people. Rei said it was spirits, and that it'd be best if I just ignored them. I had my own way of doing it: I botched my annual eye exam just enough to be told to get glasses at a minimum prescription. I liked 'em." Saku touched her glasses reflectively. "I didn't see anything but what was 'normal' with them on. It made everything easier.

"I got into trouble a lot suddenly. Rei was attacking students that picked on me, and leaving me to shoulder the blame. I didn't like it, and my parents didn't either, but I kept lying. Whenever they asked me why I was being so angry all of a sudden, I blamed it on puberty, hormones, hunger, being tired: anything to make them stop asking. Eventually, the school expelled me for misconduct after 'I' attacked one student and we both ended up in a coma for a week. By then, freshman year was over, and my parents were all too willing to send me to another, smaller school next year. They'd chalked up my behavior to being in too big of a school. When I woke up, I decided not to let Rei have so much control again. I wanted to remember more than just random moments in my life. I sealed her in one half of my mind, and refused to let her out.

"The next school year was worse. My reputation had followed me there, and no one came near me. I was happy, though. I couldn't hurt anyone if they all kept a wide berth around me. I stayed in the library anyway, trying to forget and just live. Rei pushed at me, trying to get out. I wouldn't let her. I cleaned my room of anything that reminded me of her: my fantasy novels, my deck that I'd cherished, they were all packed into a box and shoved to the back of my closet. Near the end of the first semester, one of the biggest kids in the school came up to me while I was wiping my glasses. He was surrounded by blackness, shadows. Rei said that there was a dark spirit in him. He grabbed me, picked me up by the shirt and said that I was a threat and that I'd better get out of 'his' school. I was scared. I screamed, but he just laughed, said that no one could hear a little kid like me. Rei told me to let her out, but I wouldn't. I didn't want to lose control again. I couldn't do anything against him, but I thought I could." Saku turned away from the horrified-looking Ryou and stared out the window. "Eventually, I blacked out. Rei started yelling at me, calling me stupid, a moron, all sorts of things, but I didn't care. I never wanted to see another spirit again.

"My parents said I was in a coma for month and that I was semi-concious the rest of my sophomore year. I hardly remember it myself; I didn't want to. I just wanted to sleep, but Rei wouldn't let me. When the hospital finally let me out, I acted like I was fine, like the incident had never happened. It cheered up my parents, and they left me alone again, free to stay in my room and search the internet for ways of getting rid of yamis." Saku chuckled. "It became a minor obessession of mine that summer. Near the end of summer, my parents offered to let me study in Japan for a while. They said I'd be safe from any bullies there, and that there were some other transfer students at the high school I'd be going to. Honestly, they were trying to get me away from them, away from any more trouble. I acted excited; I was, in a way. I came here, and... that's it." She shrugged, looking back at her audience. Ryou snapped out his trance in time to see her bow sarcastically.

"Oh. That's... that's no fun," he finally said quietly.

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**Paradocs: **Longest... chapter... ever. -dies-


	6. Chapter 6

**Paradocs: **After a slight hiatus, yes, Soul Crush is back. I just needed some muse, that's all. Really. . . .  
That last chapter sucked it all from me. Yep. Too many words, but that's an exposition chapter for y'all, I s'pose.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Ryou, Bakura, or anything in this story except for Rei and Saku. Nope. You really ought to know that by now, though.

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_"That's... That's no fun."_

Saku wished she could've laughed at Ryou's innocent words, spoken so quietly. "No fun". Didn't that descrbe the last year perfectly? Sipping from the mutilated can of iced coffee, Saku watched Ryou out of the corner of her eye for a moment before speaking.

"I don't think that having a yami is ever any fun, Ryou."

The boy's face contorted into a grimace. "No. No, it really isn't," he agreed, tucking one spikey strand of his white hair behind his ear. Ryou ruffled his pale mane. "Bakura thinks it's pretty fun, getting to play with how I act and all, but..." He shrugged. "At least he doesn't do anything too bad. I mean, I think we've gone a... month? without him beating anyone to a pulp." Saku's sudden panicked look made him quickly add, "yesterday not withstanding. You can still walk, right?" He laughed nervously, giggles fading swiftly into an awkward silence.

Saku set the mangled, and now empty, can down on the coffee table, trying to look relatively unconcerned and failing miserably as she sat down on the sofa. "Uh, yeah, I think so. Unless the last few hours've all been a hallucination and I'm really in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital hooked up to a morphine drip." She smiled, trying to make things seem more normal and less awkward. Ryou, for his part, looked rather guilty at her comment, and directed his gaze down at the floor. Saku swallowed. "Oh come on," she said, leaning towards him, the tone in her voice one of disbelief. "That can't happen very often, can it?"

Ryou's brown eyes looked up at her from under his wild hair, upset and full of shame, a silent _yes _in their chocolate depths.

_Ookay then. Definately not someone I want to cross, _Saku told herself mentally, sitting upright and rubbing the back of her neck ruefully as her mind raced for something else to talk about with the now-disturbed houseguest of hers.

She came up with nothing. Less than nothing, actually.

_--Y'could ask him about _his _yami. That could be fun, _Rei cut in to her thoughts, giggling at her own idea.

_Yeah. No thanks, Rei. I think Ryou's got enough problems. Too many for little ol' me, you know?_

_--Oh, who ever asked what you thought? _Rei said, tone suddenly sharp. _--Look, if you don't ask him, I will, and you wouldn't want that, would you, Saku?_

Saku rolled her hazel eyes skyward, glad that Ryou was too busy studying the floor to notice. _You know I hate you, right?_

_--'Course you do. But it's so much fun! _Another of her hateful giggles accompanied that last comment.

Saku reached across the gap between herself and the pale-skinned boy. "Hey, Ryou?" She said, tapping him on the head none too gently. "You awake in there?" Ryou started, head jolting upwards as Saku's hand shot back to her own lap.

"Yes, I'm quite alright," Ryou said in his impeccable accent, smiling brightly as though he'd never been upset in the least. He stood up, pushing the chair backwards with a slight _squeak_ of its legs against the smooth floor. "I... I think I should be going now. I've got some..." His smile faltered for a moment, quickly replaced with another cheery smile, but it disappeared long enough that Saku was able to notice. "Homework. Yes, I haven't done my science homework, and it's due tomorrow, you know." Ryou shrugged, as if embarassed that he hadn't done the 'homework' Saku knew didn't exist. "I'll show myself out, alright?" He opened the door, and, turning his head back towards the suspecting Saku, waved at her. "See you tomorrow, Saku." With that, he was gone.

For a moment, Saku felt a pressure in her mind. _Oh, shut it, Rei. _Saku grabbed the empty can off the table. _I can't ask someone a question they don't want to answer, now, can I?_

There was a silence, and the pressure evaporated. _--If you say so. _Rei finally answered, quiet and calm for once. Saku thought it strange, initially, then decided she'd best make the most of this.

"I'm goin' to bed now. Don't wake me unless it's Armageddon or school, 'kay?" Saku said aloud to no one in particular as she lay back down on the sofa. "Though I really can't see the difference now." She chuckled darkly as the teen allowed sleep to close around her once more.

In her mind, Rei grinned wickedly.

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**Paradocs: **And now you must wait for Chapter 7. Hah.


	7. Chapter 7

**Paradocs: **Heh. Yes, that last chapter was short, but, hey, what do you expect? I'm lazy.

And, yes, this is even shorter. Gwahahah!

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anyone or anything here but Rei and Saku. And the scenario, too, I s'pose.

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The air was dark, still, and the ground wreathed in shadows. Two figures faced each other, silent as the arena they stood in.

The taller of the two was male, with wild white hair and mocking brown eyes that were tinted slightly crimson. A smirk rested on his countenance, and one hand was tucked in a pocket of his neat jeans. He had the physical appearance of a teenage boy, but a closer look told you that he was far older than that.

The other, a girl, looked just as mocking as the boy. Her golden brown hair was wild, bristling around her shoulders. She held a pair of rectangular glasses in one hand that hung by her side. The other hand, her left, rested on her right shoulder in an odd gesture. Her hazel eyes were more brown than green, and a light of amusement danced within them.

The boy spoke first, tone harsh but with a slight accent. "What you request, wench, is none of my concern." His smirk faded into a frown. The girl laughed, hand dropping from her shoulder.

"Aww, c'mon now," she said in a honey-sweet voice. "She's gonna get rid o' you, you know. She's pretty damned determined when she's got a mind." The girl smiled disarmingly. "Besides, doesn't your host want you gone?"

The boy's frown deepened. "I don't align myself with anyone, especially baby spirits like yourself." He smirked again. "Even if you do know how to address your betters."

The girl stomped her foot on the murky ground. "You really don't get it, do you? Ammet take you if you don't believe me!" She turned around, pouting, much to the other's amusement. He laughed.

"You're invoking the Devourer? That's quite amusing, considering you've no idea whom you're dealing with, girl, much less who Ammet is."

The girl looked over her shoulder at him and stuck out her tongue childishly. "I've been following him for quite sometime, Master Spooky. If you don't believe me, do a little probe. She's damn scared of you, and she wants you gone."

The boy's smirk widened as the two stood in silence for a moment, then he spoke. "Ah," he said, sounding more amused than before. "Well then, what do you suggest? We do a little takeover of our own, get rid of our silly yanushi?" He chuckled. "As if we could do that."

"No." The girl turned fully around, looking more childish than before. "We just don't let it happen. Simple enough, if you're who I think y'are." She giggled.

The boy flipped his hair back behind his shoulders. "And you won't give me any hints?" He said with a predatory grin. The girl said nothing to answer his question, simply stepping back towards the darkness with a shake of her head.

"I'll see you 'gain. Gods take my host for being such a light sleeper." With a waggle of her fingers, she disappeared into the shadows. The boy stood there a moment longer, then he, too, disappeared into the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Paradocs: **Wow. That last chapter or two garnered a heck of a lot of reviews and such. o.0 I'm a little amazed right now...  
And, yes, that last chapter was pure foreshadowing. Enjoy, folks.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bakura, Ryou, or anyone or anything here except the storyline, Saku, and Rei.

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Saku ran her fingers through her messy hair Monday morning, feeling slightly groggy despite having slept through most of Sunday. _Too bloody early for school, _she grumbled to herself as she grabbed her glasses off of the coffee table and shoved them onto her face.

"You can't be _that _tired, Saku-chan," chuckled the transparent form of Rei from where she sat on the sofa. "Nothing happened to you yesterday. Unless..." Rei giggled. "Unless that Ryou boy decided to attack you without either of us knowing." She giggled again, earning a glare from her hikari.

"Just shut it, alright, Rei?" Saku grabbed her backpack from its place near the door and swung it onto her shoulder. "Nothing happened yesterday, and you know it. I just, y'know..." She shrugged, sliding her feet into a pair of flats. "I don't like talking about that stuff."

Rei giggled a third time, floating over to hover above the teen's shoulders. "Oh, c'mon! It wasn't _that _bad, was it?" She floated around to face Saku, arms crossed and looking contemplative. After a moment, she smiled. "You don't look half as stressed as you did Friday, too. Works wonders, communication." Saku rolled her eyes, pulling the front door open.

"Whatever y'say, Rei. Just don't say a gods-damned thing today, 'kay?" Pulling the other strap of her bag over the other shoulder, Saku exited the apartment, Rei disappearing into her head as the girl locked the door. With a slight sigh, Saku looked up at the brilliantly sunny sky, then walked off towards Domino High. _Cursed sunshine, _she grumbled to herself, much to Rei's--silent-- amusement.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

As she walked into class (early, two days running, she noted with some satisfaction), Saku noticed Ryou sitting in the back of the class, next to her seat. _This is odd,_ Saku mused as she stared at the white-haired boy. _Then again, maybe's he's early every day; I've only been here, what, one school day? _

_Two now, dearie, _Rei reminded her gently, with a small giggle. _We aren't counting weekends, are we? Because you've known this fella for four days now, and that really should count for something in my book._

_We aren't counting _anything _in your gods-damned book, Rei. _Saku tugged the hoop hanging from her ear as she walked towards her desk. Ryou waved cheerily at her, smiling brightly at the girl.

"Good morning, Saku. Did you sleep well?" Ryou's words, asked so happily, held the hint of an inside joke of sorts.

_'Course. I told him he woke me up yesterday, after all, _Saku remembered with a small smile. To him, she merely shrugged, sitting in her own seat. "Just fine, thanks. Did you have a good weekend?" She answered so easily, falling into the pattern of schoolfriends seeing each other after a weekend. It was something she hadn't done in... _too long, _Saku thought wryly. How ironic, that she should be doing this with someone who had given her the chills since Saturday morning.

_Gods've got a great sense of humor._

Ryou shrugged as if in answer to her question. "Yeah. Didn't do much overall, but..." His smile faded and he ruffled his snow-colored hair in embarrasment. "Look, Saku, I'm sorry I left you yesterday. I was jus-"

It was Saku's turn to smile now. "Look, Ryou, I understand. What I said yesterday was pretty..." Her smile twisted wryly. "Pretty heavy, I guess. Besides, Bakura was probably being a real jerk in there, huh?"

Ryou looked rather puzzled by this. "N-no, actually. He was quiet as a mouse the whole time. He didn't say anything until we got home..." His eyebrows furrowed as Ryou became absorbed by his thoughts. "He's usually pretty vocal, too."

Saku thought back to yesterday afternoon. For that matter, Rei had been unusually quiet, too, that whole time, had hardly said or done anything afterwards. And that pressure as Ryou had left...

The bell rang then, interrupting the two as the room became increasingly louder and more crowded. The teacher came in last, looking slightly annoyed until the conversations quieted to mere whispers here and there. Turning her attention to the front of the room, Saku tried to focus her attention on the lesson, though she only caught a snippet here and there. Looking at Ryou out of the side of her eye (and ignoring the shadows that played around his form), she found that he looked just as bored with the lecture as he had on Friday. She turned back to her own desk, moving the pencil around in random patterns on the paper as she feigned note-taking. It was only a matter of time before the lecture was over, after all.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The school day passed, and finally, the teacher's lecture (presumably on the pH scale, from what Saku had gathered) ended. Before the students could raise the volume of the room, he spoke up again, still in Japanese.

"/Class, don't forget, today is Monday and thus, gym class day. All students need to be out on the track in the next half-hour./" With a nod, he left the students to their chattering.

Saku shuddered. Gym. _As if Mondays weren't bad enough!_ Her left hand gripped the desk tightly. If there was one thing about school that Saku couldn't stand, it was athletics. Shortly after the social groupings, mind, but those were avoidable. Gym class, on the other hand, was a requirement, and one that she hadn't been able to fulfill at her last two schools. Her grip on the desk tightened. Gym had been the worst class for her every year, and, for the last two, it had been where she'd... lost it. With Ryou, and, subsequently, Bakura, in her class, she couldn't see herself surviving this hour. Even if it was the last hour of the day.

"Ah, Saku? Are you alright?"

The golden-haired girl looked up from her thoughts and into Ryou's concerned face. For a moment, Saku wanted to tell him everything, to tell him her fears about gym class, about Bakura, but she stopped herself. Ryou had his own set of problems; it was more than enough that she'd told him about her... past and about Rei without telling him this. Stamping a smile onto her face, she forced herself to let go of the desk.

"Daijoubu desu. I just don't like gym. Too much running." She said, melding the Japanese into her sentence with practiced ease. She was in Japan, after all; she should be speaking Japanese more than just a word here and there. "And I didn't bring my shorts, anyway."

Ryou smiled, obviously relieved. "You don't have a school uniform, either, do you?" He tugged at the sleeve of his own uniform, the blue long-sleeved jacket just a little too long on his arms. Saku shook her head, and Ryou's smile spread. "I'll see if they'll let us leave early to get you those. I'm sure they will: you're pretty new, and a foreigner, so..." He shrugged, looking oddly mischievous. "Besides, it's a way out for the day, and they know I'm a good student."

Despite the apprehensive feeling coiled in the pit of her stomach, Saku found herself nodding, agreeing to the plan. Nothing, she decided, could go wrong in gym class if you weren't _in _gym class. "Fine, but you do the talking. I'm not the most proficient speaker, and I'll probably screw some phrase up just enough that they'll rush me to the hospital for a blood transfusion or something." She grinned, partly at the idea of doing just that, and partly because Ryou didn't look upset about that. Reflective, perhaps, but he still managed to look mischievous.

/\/\/\/\/\

A few minutes later, anyone standing outside Domino High School would have found two teenagers, one clad in the blue jacket-and-pants uniform of Domino High, the other bespectacled and wearing a plain long-sleeve and jeans, walking down the sidewalk towards the shopping district of town, though school didn't get out for at least another hour. The two were deep in conversation, discussing a topic most would have written off as being about Monster World or some such thing.

"We could try a spell to get rid of Rei and Bakura," the girl suggested, pushing her glasses up her nose thoughtfully. "I've got a couple old spellbooks sitting somewhere in my apartment..."

The boy smiled, ruffling his fluffy mane of white hair. "That's better than nothing. I mean, everytime I think that he's gone, he comes back. Not very sporting of him, is it?" He laughed, uneasy despite the sunny afternoon.

Saku looked at him full-on, one hand playing with the golden hoop that hung from one ear. "I think there's one that can seperate spirits. It's pretty old, and I can't read it, but the illustration's pretty explanatory." She shrugged, feeling slightly embarrased at her lack of knowledge. Ryou, in turn, shrugged his shoulders.

"Like I said, better than nothing, right?" The two smiled at each other, talking on about how, when, where they'd do it, too deep in their conversation to notice the slight pressure that pressed at their temples.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

They faced each other across the shadow-misted ground again, the boy looking more irate than before. The girl, for her part, seemed rather triumphant.

"Told ya," the girl said with a giggle. "When she's got an idea, she doesn't let it go. She'll get rid of you, and the sooner, the better, in her book." She giggled again, hiding her smile vainly behind one thin-fingered hand.

The boy's frown deepened, then he, too, smiled, albeit a sarcastic, mocking one. "She wants you gone, too, from what I can hear. Is that why you want my help?"

The girl stuck out one hand, examining the nails on them in a bored manner. "Look, you. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine, alright? We work together, we stay where we are, maybe with a few added perks. If we let 'em get rid of us, we're gone for good, understand? I worked too hard to get where I am to let it go just 'cuz you don't care. The spell she's thinking of isn't too complex, but it's powerful. Gets rid of spirits in a flash, from what we read. Got it?" She looked up at him from under her eyebrows. The boy scowled, then nodded reluctantly.

"Fine. You keep up your end of the bargain though. I'm at least twice your age, girl, and I'm not an idiot like some others I know."

With that, the meeting ended, the darkness fading away with the girl still standing there, giggling.


	9. Chapter 9

**Paradocs: **Chapter 9, folks. And, I can seriously say that I'm not quite sure I'm in control of this story anymore. Blast. And, yes, I promote the ditching of Gym Class.  
And, because I promote continuity, we're clothes shopping!

I aplogize for the shortness. But it's good, right?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Ryou, Bakura, or anyone/thing, except for Saku and Rei. They are mine.

* * *

"Aiii? This skirt's tiny!" Saku's squeal of protest as she held up the miniskirt designated as part of Domino High's uniform was not particularly loud, but it was just odd enough to divert Ryou's interest from a display of gold armbands. And the interest of some of the other shoppers in the clothing boutique as well, no doubt, but not from the armbands so much as the boy.

"Can't I get a longer one? This one's way too short!" Saku continued, prodding the flimsy light blue fabric with one finger experimentally. Ryou looked at her for a moment curiously, then laughed.

"I suppose you could. Most girls like those shorter skirts, though..." The boy shrugged. "No idea why."

Saku put the skirt back on the rack and pulled out another one, this one long enough to reach her knees. _Better, _she decided, draping the item, hanger and all, across her arm. "You're pretty dense, then, Ryou," Saku said in reply to her friend, examining the rack of 'hideously pink' girls' blazers. "Girls want guys to notice their legs, hips, breasts, anything if it'll get 'em a boyfriend and some makeout sessiouns." She shrugged, looking over one shoulder at the pale-skinned teen. "It's a girl thing, I guess. Makes us bloody morons, neh?" She turned back to the display, trying to find one in an actually decent size. One that would, preferrably, not show off her own figure.

Ryou smiled. "I s'pose. You don't seem to show off anything, though." He shrugged his own shoulders, though Saku, with her back to him, couldn't see it.

"Well..." Saku pulled out one blazer, triumph burning in her eyes at having found the only decently-sized one. "That's because I'm not a gods-damned slut like the rest. My body's for m'own eyes, thank you, and there's no chance I'm letting anyone else see it unless _I _say so." It was a statement, not an accusation, spoken calmly as the golden-haired girl pulled out a light blue bow to go with the ensemble. Pushing her glasses back up her nose, Saku turned around and smiled at Ryou. "C'mon. I've got what I need for school; I've got plenty of white shirts, loafers, and socks back at home."

Ryou looked down at his wristwatch for a moment, then back up at Saku and he, too, smiled. "School's out in half an hour anyway. Want to get something to eat?"

Saku, up at the cash register, dumped her load on the counter for the poor clerk to deal with, then turned around and looked at the pleasant-looking Ryou, left arm hanging by her side, right hand holding it at the elbow as she pondered his offer. It would be nice, she supposed, to form a friendship with him. She'd been rather lonely before now, after all. Perhaps that was why she had seemed less 'stressed', as Rei had put it that morning, lately. A nagging voice Saku was sure was her conscience tried to warn her, tell her not to, but Saku ignored it. She deserved some fun, didn't she?

"Sure," she replied, with the tiniest of shrugs. "But no vending machines, alright?" She smiled mischieviously as Ryou laughed.

"C'mon then. I know a good bakery around here, anyway."

Saku grabbed her bag of clothing from the cashier, who looked rather disappointed that the handsome young boy hadn't paid the slightest attention to her. Shoving it carelessly into her backpack, the teenage girl followed her friend out of the shop in search of some truly delicious pastries.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You're home late."

Coming in through the door, Saku found herself face to face with her yami. Rei looked slightly cross, one strand of hair dangling in front of her solid brown eyes. Dumping her bag on the floor and pulling the plastic sack of school clothes from the backpack, Saku answered the ghost without looking at her. "I was having fun. That a crime, Rei?" Saku straightened up and faced the other, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Rei mimicked the action.

"'S a crime if you don't bother telling me where you're going, Saku-chan," Rei said, still sounding annoyed. Saku frowned.

"Me, tell you? You're in my gods-damned head, for goodness' sake! You always know what I'm doing or where I'm going, unless..." A thought came to Saku, and it wasn't a good one. Her voice got very quiet all of a sudden.

"You haven't been in my head today, have you?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Paradocs: **Yes, that was a very short chapter. Oh well. You can deal with it, right? It gave you a cliffhanger, at least.

And, no, I don't think we're at the end yet. We've got quite a few chapters to go, kids.  
Oh, as a sidenote, "Saku" means a bunch of different things in Japanese; my favorite is "plan". Fits Saku, huh? Intriguing...

**Disclaimer: **Paradocs does not claim to own any of the characters here mentioned, other than Rei and Saku.

* * *

"I wasn't?" Rei sounded surprised by Saku's question, brown eyes wide with shock. Her eyes returned to normal after a second. "Ah, no. I was at home, you know, playing around and stuff." For a moment, Saku had a feeling that her yami's surprise, and subsequent excuse, was a facade, but...

Well, she hadn't heard anything from Rei since before school that morning. Maybe Rei had been at home all day. It was odd, though, given Rei's usual tendency to butt into Saku's business.

The teen sighed and rubbed her eyes behind her glasses tiredly. It was nearly sunset, and she was starting to feel a little tired. Plus, the euphoria and freedom she'd felt earlier was wearing off now that she was faced with this 'little' problem. "Look, Rei. Were you home all day or are you just screwing with me? I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now."

Rei smiled gently, floating over to her hikari and patting her on the shoulder consolately. "I was home all day, Saku-chan. I'm just a little grouchy, that's all. Not much fun, giving you a day off, y'know?" The spirit giggled. "You look like you've had a bit of an adventure, though. Couldn't help but overhear that you cut gym with your little _boyfriend_ today." She perched her ethereal body on top of the couch's back. "How'd that go?"

Saku had a sudden urge to slap Rei across the face; it'd do little good, though, seeing as Rei was pure spirit. Physical contact was pretty hard to get when you were just ether. So, the mortal girl decided that a few terse words would do just as well.

"Ryou is _not _my boyfriend, Rei," she said, seating herself on one of the sofa's arms without looking at the suddenly cheery yami. "He's a friend, and he's a boy. That's about it. You know very well I can't date, much less date someone who's just as unstable as I am, Rei." She turned her hazel eyes onto Rei, who looked straight back at her, saying nothing. "And besides, the teacher let us so I could go get a school uniform."

"But you _hate _shopping!" Rei exclaimed, flying up from her seat in surprise. "And besides, what're you going to do next week? You can't skip gym next week to go eat scones with Ry-"

"How'd you know we went to get scones?"

Saku looked at her mind-mate, growing more irate as the conversation wore on. She hadn't even mentioned eating scones, much less doing anything other than buying her uniform. Saku frowned. Something was wrong here. Rei shrugged nonchalantly.

"I saw the crumbs on your shirt. Besides, you love scones. Love'em, especially fresh ones." The yami said coolly, without the faintest flicker of a lie crossing her face. Saku sighed and leaned back until she slid backwards onto the couch's cushions.

"Rei, I'm...I'm going to bed now. Wake me up if anything odd happens, 'kay?" The teen pulled her glasses off her face and placed them on the coffee table as Rei shrugged, mischief gleaming in her brown eyes.

"If we're going by everyone else's definition of 'odd', I'll have to get up in a couple of minutes. By my definition, though, you might be asleep for a few dozen years, though. Just as a warning."

Saku glowered at the ghost as she pulled a blanket over herself. "Just get me up for school at least, all right? I'm not missing another day, ever since you got to go to Egypt History Day two years back." Rei giggled, and Saku closed her eyes, masquerading as asleep to better think.

Something was up here. Rei hadn't 'stayed home' since they'd 'met' two years ago. Now all of a sudden, she was staying home? Not sitting in her mind, giving questionable advice when it wasn't solicited? That didn't sit right with Saku in the least.

Then there was Rei's knowledge of her activities that afternoon. Saku hadn't mentioned any of them to her, yet Rei had known what she'd done, and who with, despite having been 'out' of her mind that day. Unless Rei hadn't bothered to sever their mental connection temporarily, she'd been lying about being gone for the day.

But why? Rei couldn't possibly have gotten up to anything yet, not without Saku's knowledge. She still remembered everything that had happened that day. Rei hadn't spoken up since before school.

That cemented Saku's doubts about Rei's honesty. Something was definately up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Paradocs: **Sorry for the uncharacteristically short chapters as of late. I've been lazy. Yay.

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Bakura, Ryou, or anyone/thing except for Saku, Rei, and the storyline of this tale. Deal with it.

* * *

"It's got to be Saturday."

Ryou looked up at Saku across the empty classroom, slightly confused by her sudden outburst as she'd entered the room.

Saku was early. Again. Nothing odd there.

Ryou was early too. Again. Nothing odd there, either.

It was a pattern they'd started to fall into, though it was only Wednesday of Saku's first week at Domino High. First, Ryou would arrive, a full half-hour early for class. Saku would follow five minutes later. That gave the two teens twenty-five pure, clean minutes to talk, without anyone overhearing their conversations. The quiet suited them well: neither wanted to be accused of being insane or paranoid by their classmates. They enjoyed the silence, and neither made random outbursts to interrupt their solitude. They wanted to discuss how they would get rid of their yamis, the spell they'd use, and, most important, what _language _the spell Saku'd picked out was in. Randomosity had no place among their plans. After class, they'd go out, get something to eat, listen to music, and the hundred-and-one things high school friends were supposed to do, all while discussing their ideas. They went home only when the daylight began to dim, and the streets of Domino City became more dangerous for two teenagers.

So Ryou's puzzlement at the comment was completely justified in both their minds.

"Ah, Saku?" Ryou said, following the thin girl with his eyes as she moved towards her seat next to him. "What do you m-"

"Saturday." The teen sat down in her chair, elbows resting on the desk as she turned to her friend. "The spell. We've got to do it on Saturday, come hell or high water." She looked at him over the frames of her glasses, something she rarely did. The Ryou smiled faintly, as though barely amused.

"Why? I mean, we've got loads of time. It's not like something's going to happen if we wait to do i-"

Saku waved her hands impatiently, closing her eyes as though busily thinking. "You aren't paying attention!" She sighed, then opened her eyes, hazel eyes serious. "Listen, Ryou. Did Bakura try and do anything yesterday with you? Anything?"

Ryou looked up at the ceiling, brown eyes seeming to search the tiles and hanging lights for the answer. Finally, he answered. "No. As a matter of fact..." Ryou looked back down at his friend. "I've hardly heard a peep out of him all week. Even at home." His thin smile turned to a worried, puzzled frown. "What's wrong with that?"

Saku rolled her eyes, ruffling her golden hair that hung to nearly her shoulders. "That doesn't strike you as odd?" The American pulled absentmindedly at the (disgustingly) pink blazer she wore, with its ugly blue ribbon. Dreadful thing. Why had she bought it again? "You don't think it's weird that Bakura's been silent as a lamb all week? Rei's been pretty quiet herself. Keeps saying that she's letting me have some 'freedom', that she's staying home everyday." Saku smiled wryly. "I'd think that Bakura'd be a little more vocal these days, since we've been..." She stopped, searching for the right word.

"Hanging out after class?" Ryou suggested helpfully. Saku nodded.

"Yes. That. You don't think it's odd?"

Ryou shrugged. "Maybe they're being nice?" He said, sounding less certain of that idea with each word. Saku could've laughed, if she'd been in a laughing mood.

Which, for the record, she wasn't.

"I've never heard of a yami who suddenly felt like being 'nice' to their host, Ryou," Saku said, sounding rather cynical for once. "They're up to something, Ryou, trust me. And the sooner we get them out, the better. I don't want to know what they're plotting for us. Rei's pretty damned clever, and, from what you've told me, Bakura's pretty tenacious himself." She bent down to retrieve her notebook from her already-untidy backpack.

Now it was Ryou's turn to smile wryly. "It could be worse," he said. "They could be working together."

Saku, in the process of extracting a pencil from in between the notebook's pages, looked up suddenly, eyes wide with surprise. "Say that again, Ryou."

The boy, for his part, looked confused again, this time by Saku's sudden interest in what had been an offhand comment. "They could be working together?" He repeated, as realization dawned over both of them simultaneously. The shock on their faces would have been hilarious in any other situation.

Perhaps it was a good thing that, at that precise moment, a group of students stumbled into the room, babbling about cards and monsters and the like. Saku straightened up in her seat, notebook in one hand, pencil in the other. Her green-brown eyes remained locked with Ryou's chocolate ones, both still working through the shock of their accidental discovery.

_Oh_ shit.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Explain!" Bakura held Rei up against a shadowy wall that had materialized to suit his purpose, face contorted with rage. Rei struggled weakly against him, though whether it was from exhaustion, fear, or a feeling of futility was anyone's guess. She said nothing though, stoking Bakura's fury. He shoved her against the wall again. "Explain, girl!"

Rei smiled thinly, almost wearily. "Told you she was a smart girl, didn't I, Bakura-chan?" She said in her sugar-sweet voice. It hardly seemed fitting right now, given the dark setting and darker situation, but she spoke just the same. Bakura's frown deepened to an almost-snarl. "We were careless; so what? Not like she can do anything big before Saturday." She shrugged, with some understandable difficulty, given that she was suspended by the front of a white t-shirt.

"You've gone and ruined any plans we had," Bakura said angrily. "With your blabbering about silly things with that damnedable host of yours." He pulled a knife out of one pocket of his faded jeans, the blade gleaming silver despite the lack of light. Bakura grinned ferally. "I should kill you right here. Then you'll be stuck in the Shadow Realm without a body or anything." He held it up to her throat, still smiling.

Rei laughed nervously, shying away from the knifepoint as well as she could. "A little, ah, extreme, don't you think, Bakura-chan?" She said, barely hiding her fear of the blade. Bakura's grin spread, and he poked the knife's sharp tip into the girl's chest.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Ack!" Saku clutched her chest, dropping the chocolate chip cookie she'd been eating. She doubled over, breathing heavily. She felt a hand on her back, gentle and yet strong.

"Are you alright, Saku?" Ryou asked, concerned.

"Y-yeah, I think I'm--" Saku's voice cut off as the pain returned, just as sharp as before. She dropped to the ground, feeling more pain than should have been allowed. _Am I having a heart attack? _She wondered, then denied it. _I'm perfectly healthy, young too. I couldn't be having a heart attack. So what then?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Paradocs: **Chapter 12. I am pleased, to say the least. Twelve chapters, and we're still going strong.  
Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, especially the last chapter. This one's not nearly as well written, but... -shrug-

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bakura or Ryou. Or anyone, for that matter, except for Saku and Rei. And this lovely storyline.

* * *

"Nnh." Rei glared at the triumphant Bakura, beginning to feel ill as her essence's blood flowed from the wound he'd made in her chest. She was, for the most part, unable to say anything more coherent than "nnh". Bakura laughed, licking the knife's blade as if it was a lollipop.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" He teased, voice filled with malicious intent. "Seems to be hurting your little host, too, Rei. Damn stupid of you, letting yourself get so connected with that girl. But it'll make it easier for me," the yami mused, smirking evilly. "If I kill you here, in the Shadow Realm, she'll go into a coma in the mortal world. Wonderful." Bakura laughed again.

Rei groaned and pressed her hand to the silvery blood pouring out of her chest. It was bad enough that she was going to die here, without it being lorded over her by this sadistic body-thief. _Dammit, _she reprimended herself silently. _Last time I play games with someone twice my age._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Saku? Saku?" Ryou shook her shoulders, voice growing more frantic with each cry. Saku hadn't responded, had hardly moved, for nearly five minutes now, and Ryou was getting scared. First, her chest had started hurting. Then, she'd collapsed on the ground, and now...

Hospital. He needed to get her to a hospital, and fast.

But how? He couldn't drive, and he doubted he was strong enough to carry her all the way there.

Maybe she was still concious, could stand enough that he could support her and walk to the hospital?

"C-come on, Saku," the teen said, pulling one of her arms across his shoulder and tried to stand them both up. "Let's get you to the ho-"

"No." Saku said flatly, suddenly. Her voice was rough and labored, but strong despite that. "No. Gods-damned. Hospital. Not 'gain." She didn't look at Ryou, but at the pavement, as though that was what she was speaking with. Then, before Ryou could ask or say anything, her eyes closed, and her body became limp.

She'd blacked out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rei smiled at Bakura, looking up at him with renewed vigor gleaming in her brown eyes. "Looks like you've lost your chance, Bakura-chan," she said with a giggle, despite the still-flowing blood that had, by now, coated her hand. She waved said hand at him as her body began to fade away. Bakura growled, and made a grab for her. He wanted his revenge, dammit!

His hands closed on nothing. Rei, too, was gone.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Everything was black. Dark. Saku couldn't see anything, at first. _'M I blind? _she wondered, feeling oddly groggy in this strange place. It was cold, too. Saku shivered. She didn't like it here. Not one bit.

A pinprick of light began to shine from somewhere. Saku turned her head to follow the growing beam of light. The darkness fled to the corners as a room began to form around the teen.

It seemed to be a hallway, a foyer maybe. There were two short halls branching off of this, the main room. They went opposite ways, and yet, there were myriad passageways between them. Curious, Saku walked towards the one to her right. The walls were painted in bright colors, overlaid with darker ones. A door at the other end of it was slightly ajar, and the portion of the room inside was visible. The room looked much like the hallway, with a fuzzy white carpet on the ground and stacks of books all across the floor. The walls were covered in drawings, mostly of dragons and the like. Saku smiled. A bookworm's room, by the looks of it.

She turned to the other hall. Its walls were painted in a dozen shades of golds, browns, and yellows; it reminded her of the desert. There was a door at the opposite end, but it, unlike the first, was tightly shut. Saku frowned. It was familiar, but she couldn't remember what it was, what was behind the door. She started towards it, wanting to see what was inside it.

"Sorry, kid. No can do." A familiar voice called from behind her. Saku turned around, and found herself face-to-face with someone she could've sworn was her reflection. For a moment, Saku's mind whirled as she tried to remember who this person was.

"Rei?" She hazarded finally. The girl smiled and shook her head, as if amused.

"'Rei' isn't my name, Saku," she said, stepping forward and grabbing Saku's hand with her own. "It's a nice thing to call me, though. Means 'soul', doesn't it, Saku-chan?" She smiled as she pressed the girl's hand to a silvery spot on her t-shirt. It was damp, and the two winced simultaneously. The room seemed to spin around them, wavering slightly.

Saku nodded, feeling beyond lost. She was having trouble thinking; it was like someone had wrapped her mind in cotton candy or something equally soft and fluffy. 'Rei' smiled at her, almost pityingly.

"Would you like to hear a story, Saku-chan?"

The girl nodded dumbly, following the other down one of the passages and into the open room she'd found earlier. 'Rei' sat down on the fluffy carpet in the center of the stacked books, motioning for the girl to sit across from her. Saku was all too happy to oblige, sitting not crosslegged, as the bloody-shirted girl in front of her was, but with her knees drawn up against her chest and her arms wrapped around. It was a childish position to sit in, but it gave Saku a feeling of security.

'Rei' looked up at the dragon-adorned ceiling. "Where to begin with you, hikari?" She mused, then snapped her fingers and looked straight at Saku's puzzled face. "The beginning. That's the only place to start with a story, isn't it, my book-loving hikari-chan?"

She smiled and began to speak, not so lightly as before:

"First, you must understand something, Saku-chan. Bakura is an ancient spirit, from the days of pharoahs, when magic walked the sands of Egypt. I, too, am from those days, but I'm much younger than he is." The spirit smiled. "_Much_ younger.

"So, with that in mind, let us begin our tale, hikari. There was a certain scribe in the marketplace of Egypt, called Sashai, 'the scribe', by all. Family, friends, strangers, clients, all knew him by that simple title. Sashai had one child, a daughter whom he loved very much, for she looked as her mother had, before she had gone to the lands of Osiris and Anubis. He was a pious man, and named her for the patron goddess of scribes: Sesaat. He indulged her as only a father could, teaching her to read and write the hieroglyphs he sold each day in the marketplace. And, for all her cheerfulness and willingness to learn, he mourned her fate. For Sesaat had been born on a cursed day, the twenty-third day of the third month of the Growing Season-- what you would call March 23, Saku-- and was so fated to be killed by the crocodiles of the Nile.

"But he never told her that," the storyteller said, in a bare whisper. "So she spent the first fourteen years of her life in childlike innocence, dreaming of joining the temple of her namesake someday. Sesaat thrived on tales of the old days, of the great nameless Pharoah and his battle with the Dark Ones, of thief kings, gods and demons. She was not superstitious, per se, but she was curious for knowledge of her future. And so, one day, she sought out a fortune teller in the marketplace and, for a few coppers, had her fortune told.

"What she heard that day disturbed her: on her sixteenth birthday, she was to die, drowned in the river and eaten later by its inhabitants. A gruesome fate, but one that, the teller assured her, was inevitable. Sesaat left that day disheartened, upset that the gods she would have served would give her such a cruel fate, and at such a young age. But she would not show her feelings to her father; it was enough that she would die someday soon.

"But I didn't want to die," the girl said quietly, slipping out of the third person into the first unconciously. With a jolt of recognition, Saku realized that this girl was the same from the story. But she said nothing, giving Rei--Sesaat-- the opportunity she so obviously needed to tell her tale.

"I began looking everywhere, anywhere, for ways to stay alive, to escape my fate. I prayed to the gods, to Seshaat and Thoth, Osiris and Isis, even to Sebak of the crocodiles, that they would let me live, that they would take this death from my shoulders. I searched in the libraries for spells that would allow me to elongate my life. And, just six months before my sixteenth birthday, I found what I was looking for.

"It was a ancient scroll, obviously rarely used from the dust that coated its niche on the shelf. Inside, the spells were difficult, but written in a neat hand and easily read. One spell, the one I found suited my purposes best, called for only one ingredient: an item, made of gold, that would serve as a storing place for one's soul. I had little items of gold, and few that I thought would be useful as a storing place for my soul. The item I chose was an earring, molded carefully into the shape of a lizard. My father told me it was a charm, one that would protect me from the crocodiles of the Nile if I wore it on my ear. And I had, ever since I'd had my fortune told.

"I decided on a day to perform the spell. And when the day came, I performed it in a place where people rarely came. It was a day before I turned sixteen, and my father was busy selling words and his pen in the marketplace, as he did everyday. I had practiced the spell everyday before it, saying just enough that I would not call it to action, and I knew well what I had to do.

"I began to recite it, chanting it in a low voice like I'd heard the priests and priestesses do in their ceremonies. At the end, the spell called that I cut my arm and smear the item--my charm-- with my blood, to seal a piece of myself in there. And I did, so expertly I thought I could have been a mage in those fabled days of old. As I finished the spell, I made a mistake:

"I had allowed some of my blood to spill into the river. When I washed the knife of the same blood in the water, still chanting, I found myself being pulled into the river by teeth sharper than my blade. A crocodile, one of the creatures I was destined to meet." Sesaat's spirit sighed, as though sad. "Needless to say, I died. I had sealed part of me in my charm, though, so, in a sense, I still lived." She smiled wearily at Saku.

"And, thanks to you, I'm still alive now. I learned much during my time in the charm, gathering information and news of the world outside from each person who possessed me. But no one put it on; they wanted the 'other earring' first, though such a thing didn't exist." The soul giggled at the silent Saku. "At least, not anymore. But when you put it on, silly Saku, dear little silly Saku--" Sesaat ruffled Saku's golden hair, just a shade lighter than her own, as a mother would an innocent child. "I found an opening, a way to live again. I made my residence here in your mind, and you let me. You wanted me, even if you wouldn't always admit it, and so our rooms grew close together, began to even intertwine. I was your shadow, your yami, your darkness, and you were my light, my sun, my hikari-chan. When you hurt, I hurt. And, as you can see now, hikari-chan, when I hurt, you do too. When you want me, I come, no matter where I am. And, as we learned just now, if I die, you do, too."

Saku looked up, still fuzzy-headed and feeling increasingly tired. "Why are you telling me this?" She mumbled, almost incomprehensible. "You waited until we were both dying to tell me what's going on so we could both die happy?" She touched her ear to the earring she'd worn every day for the past 18 months.

Sesaat grinned and fingered the identical earring she wore, though it hung on the opposite ear. "No," she said after a moment. "I told you that so I could give you some help with that plan of yours. Isn't that what you wanted?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Paradocs: **Holy fscking chicken sandwich! Because we're at the climax, it's the weekend, and I'm lazy, I'm going to blather on for a moment here. And then we'll rejoin Saku and Sesaat.

Thirty-four frickin' reviews. Considering we've only got 12 chapters (well, 13 now), I'm impressed. Combine that with 1185 hits since Chapter 1, 8 favorites, and the fact that 10 people have this on their Story Alert is... well, it's quite an accomplishment. Especially for me. -smirks-

So, yes. Rei's name is really Sesaat. And, yes, Sesaat likes adding "-chan" onto everyone's name, because she's just that way. And, yes, I am playing with your minds at this point. Because it's just plain fun. So back to the story, folks.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything here except the plot, Saku, and Rei/Sesaat. Neh.

* * *

"Help...me?" Saku pointed at herself, feeling more clueless than before. It was like this place served no purpose other than to completely and utterly confuse her. Sesaat definately wasn't helping matters, either, with her stories and vague clues. _This is _not _what I wanted to do today, _she told herself silently as Sesaat rubbed her head again.

"Yep. Help you, Saku-chan. You want me gone, right? And you want Bakura-chan gone too, right?" She smiled. "Look, see this?" The ancient girl picked up a book covered in symbols--hieroglyphics, Saku realized-- and opened it to a page that Saku recognized with a jolt as the spell she had been planning on using earlier.

"That's the sp--" she began, only to be hushed by the other girl.

"Yes, yes, it's the spell you and Ryou-chan were going to use to get rid of us. Not very fair of either of you, given what we've done for you, but," Sesaat shrugged her thin shoulders. "Doesn't matter, does it? Anyway, Bakura-chan and I were going to stop you sillies from doing that, but, well, you kinda found out what was up." Sesaat winked, though it was a sad one. "Smart girl. Bad timing, though. 'Kura-chan tried to kill me and, thus, you, and, well, here we are. Full circle, almost."

Saku pulled her glasses off and rubbed her eyes wearily. She didn't need this. She didn't need this cycle of vague ideas and mysteries. She was _tired_, damn it! "Sesaat, can you _please _just tell me what's going on and what to do? _Please?_"

The Egyptian giggled, ruffling Saku's hair for the umpteenth time that afternoon. That was starting to get old, too. "Alright, little hikari-chan, if you _insist_," she said, as though conceding something much larger than just a few vaguaries. She held up the spellbook. "This spell? It can get rid of me and Bakura-chan if you use it right. Just recite it and, poof! No more yamis to play with."

Saku sighed and pulled her glasses back on. "Sesaat," she said after a moment of studying the page. "I can't read a single one of these bloody glyphs. You want me to recite something I can't read?" The words sounded much less annoyed than the teen actually felt. _If she so much as _touches_ my head..._

There it was again! Sesaat was ruffling her hair and giggling. Temper rising, Saku shot her a --rather pathetic-- glare. After a moment, Sesaat's laughter subsided. "_You_can't read it, Saku-chan, but remember, my dad was a scribe in the Pharaoh's time. _I _can read it just fine." She ruffled Saku's golden hair again, only to recieve an emphatic snap at her wrist from her 'victim's' jaw and quickly withdrew her hand with a giggle. "Now, you just have to go back out there and pull out the book. I'll tell you what to say, okay, hikari-chan?"

Saku glared, this time an actual glare, at the other. "Fine. Just... don't screw things up again, okay? It's your fault we both nearly died just now, after all." Standing up--and feeling less fluff-headed and dizzy than before-- Saku began to walk out of the room, Sesaat following close behind. As the pair reached the foyer, Saku found herself pointing at the closed room and asking, "that's your room, isn't it?" Sesaat followed her hand and smiled faintly. But she said nothing, merely nodding as Saku's spirit began to fade away.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When Saku opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the light was being blocked out by a... face? Squinting, she gave it further examination.

Yep. Definately a face. And not just any face, either.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" Ryou breathed a sigh of relief as he sat back from Saku's sofa, where she lay. "I was afraid you were, ah..." His brows furrowed as he searched rapidly for the proper word. Saku smiled.

"Dead? In a coma?" She supplemented, hearing a much-weaker voice than she liked come from her mouth. Ryou nodded, looking more relieved as she spoke.

"Y-yes. That." He said, a bit absently. Saku frowned and struggled to sit up. This was, understandably, more difficult than usual, especially given the fact that Ryou had grabbed onto her shoulders and was trying to push her back down. His expression grew more worried and frantic. "You need to lie down, Saku!" The boy argued as they struggled.

"I need to get something!" She shot back as she gripped the sofa's cushions with her hands. There was no way she was going to let Ryou get in the way of doing what she needed to do. Sesaat had said she'd help her, after all. It was for his own good, too!

"You _need_ to rest! You nearly died or went into a coma or something and I had that happen once and the doctors said to lie down and stay rested!" He continued, the words spilling out breathlessly. He shoved her back down a little harder than before, succeeding in getting Saku lying back down. The girl gave him an inquiring look, but said nothing. Ryou, with a little nod of satisfaction that he'd won the argument, stood back up.

"Well," Saku said, trying to find a way around Ryou's sudden surge of protectiveness. "If I can't get up, then can you do a couple of things for me?" She sat up, propping her back against the pillows so that she wouldn't feel so incredibly useless. Lying down would make her sleepy, anyways. No way she was going to go back to sleep, not right now. Ryou frowned slightly, but nodded.

"In the room back there," Saku pointed at a door in the hallway just off the living room. "There should be a bunch of boxes lying around. One of them's open, and there's a book on top." She paused for a moment, then added, "a _really _old book. I need it. Trust me." She locked eyes with him, hazel-green meeting chocolate-brown. They sat--or rather, stood, in Ryou's case-- like that for a moment, before Ryou nodded and walked off to retrieve the book. Relieved that he hadn't asked why, Saku sat back and sighed, deciding to use the momentary peace to think.

Blacking out. She hadn't done that in ages. At least this time, she knew what was going on. Vaguely, maybe, but it seemed to be enough, to Sesaat, at least. What _had _been odd was how protective Ryou was being. He'd taken her home, even though she'd been unconcious. That... that might have been okay; friends didn't leave friends lying in the street unconcious, did they?

Saku didn't know. Everything she'd ever been told was making less and less sense as time went on. But she supposed that that was normal behaviour. It was his over-protective nature right now that was confusing her still further. Maybe it was normal for people to take care of their friends when they were ill or hurt, to keep them from doing anything potentially dangerous, but what was so dangerous about her going to get a book? And, anyway, why did it look like he was studying her, trying to figure something out?

_--You worry too much, Saku-chan,_ Sesaat's voice giggled in her mind. _--Just let things play out as they would with this. Trust me._

About to mutter something back in response, Saku was interrupted by Ryou's return, a battered leathery book in his hands. "Is this it?" He asked, with a questioning smile. "There weren't any other books in there that looked '_really_ old', but..." He shrugged, looking ready to smile, truly smile, but the expression in his eyes was still one of worry and puzzlement. Taking the tome from his pale hands, she smiled, matching his without hardly trying.

"Yes, this is the one. There are some in those boxes older than it, but, ah..." Saku shrugged, embarassed. "I can't read them. I can hardly read this." Opening it up to the page Sesaat had shown her earlier, she looked up from the mess of hieroglyphs and nearly collided heads with Ryou, who was studying the page with evident interest.

"Sorry," he apologized, stepping back from her. "Natural curiousity, you know?" For a brief moment, his eyes flashed crimson, then back to brown. Despite the thick blanket covering her, Saku shivered. Bakura was watching; she'd been pretty dumb to expect less of the yami.

"Ryou? Can you do me another favor?" She asked, closing the book with her hand inside on the page. When he nodded, she continued. "C-can you sit over there, on the chair, and just... do nothing? Just think of something very hard and difficult to break through... a wall, okay? Nothing else but that, no matter what happens, okay?" She locked eyes with Ryou again, feeling upset that she had to ask him to do this. But it was the only way. It was how Saku had learned how to keep Sesaat out at first; it should work for Ryou and Bakura, if he did it properly. 'If' being the key word.

But why should he listen to her? She hadn't told him why he should do that, much less what she was doing or why she needed the book. But something in the way he nodded now, with a sad smile, and did as she'd asked told Saku that he knew why, or that he knew that it was important to her.

_Is that trust_? Saku wondered as she watched Ryou close his eyes and inhale deeply. _To take what someone says at face value, and not ask why? _She pushed the thought, and the ones that were popping up across her mind like daisies, away. She didn't have time to wonder about that right now. Taking a deep breathe, she reopened the book, and looked at the hieroglyphs.

Almost instantly, the symbols became clear; Saku found herself understanding the words on the page as though they'd been written in clear English. But she hadn't studied hieroglyphs, never. So that meant...

_--Go on, read it aloud, _Sesaat said, sounding slightly strained. _--It's not exactly easy giving you some of my knowledge, okay? Just do it!_

Saku nodded, and opened her mouth to chant the words:

"_Two bound, contained, kept in vessels of strange depth..._"


	14. Chapter 14

**Paradocs: **Ahh, so close, and yet so far, folks!

Yes, I wrote the spell myself. Steal it without my permission, and I'll shoot you. With majick.

**Disclaimer: **Paradocs does not own, nor does she claim to own, Ryou, Bakura, or anyone/thing in this fanfiction except for Saku, Sesaat, the Spell, and the Plot.

* * *

"_Two bound, contained, in vessels of strange depth,_" Saku chanted, reading the translated hieroglyphs Sesaat had provided for her. It was important that she read it properly, without missing a beat; that was how spells went in all the fantasy books she'd ever read. Why shouldn't it apply here, too?

_"Chained to souls that are new and strange,  
Bonds that keep them tethered here,  
Souls for whom the night holds little fear._"

Saku glanced up from the ancient paper, looking at Ryou, who sat, still breathing in deeply and exhaling just as deeply. His face seemed calm. That was a good sign. He was holding Bakura back. With a small smile, she returned to the verse.

_"The ones with whom they share a form,  
Who fear the night as a child might,  
Who are chained against will and hope  
With souls darker than their own."_

Again, Saku looked up at Ryou. Still relaxed, but his face seemed just a shade paler than it had before. Was he alright? For a moment, the girl was tempted to ask him if he was alright.

_--Don't you dare! _Sesaat interrupted, loud and clear in her mind. _--If you break off the spell here, nothing good'll come of it. I don't know what, but I've seen it happen. Bad stuff, Saku-chan. Ryou's not worth that._ Saku wished she could argue with Sesaat, tell her that Ryou trusted her-- her!-- and she needed to protect him, but something in Sesaat's warning rang alarm bells in her mind. She continued to read, chanting in a clear voice that she hadn't known she'd owned, but her eyes kept a close watch on Ryou, whose face seemed to grow less relaxed and more pained with each word.

_"Crush the chains that hold them bound,  
Give the bound freedom and form  
To call their own  
Give the captive hope and light once more,"_

Ryou's jaw was set, as if he was grinding his teeth together. His hands gripped the arms of the wooden chair, not too hard, but with some force. Saku read faster.

_"Bring dawn to their eyes, oh golden Ra,  
Khnum, divine potter, mold them as they should be.  
Anuket, pour the breath of life into their mouths,  
Osiris, release their forms from your bless'd kingdom and give them life on earth once more."_

A groan and snap of wood told Saku that Ryou's grip had tightened dramatically with that last verse. Obviously, Bakura didn't like this spell. Silently, Saku thanked whatever gods were watching this that Ryou was fighting his yami.

_"Defiers of death, who did not give your souls to Seker in the West,  
Awake once more!  
Walk upon the Earth with freedom, free from chains,  
Leave thy vessels to hold their own!"_

Snapping the book shut as the formal words of the spell ended, Saku said the final words. The book said that she had to say the names of the souls affected by the spell in order to free them.

"Ryou, be free from Bakura! Sakurea, be free from Sesaat!"

The room shook, and the air grew thick and dark. Saku watched as Ryou's eyes flashed open, crimson red, and stood still, horrified as Bakura stood up from the heavily-damaged chair and began to approach her. Her mind whirled with confusion and upset as the yami grew ever closer.

_It should've worked! It should've!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Paradocs: **...

**Disclaimer: **The only things Paradocs claims to own are Saku, Sesaat, and the Plot.

* * *

Bakura grinned, the cold, wicked grin of a hunter who has, at long last, cornered his prey. Saku, still on the couch, found herself unable to move as he drew closer. For once, Saku wished that Sesaat would say something, anything, to make her get up, fight.

But Sesaat was silent, and Saku was alone against the vicious Bakura.

He was five steps away now. Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

He turned to face her, malicious intent gleaming in those red-brown eyes. And then his eyes, those same, evil eyes, rolled up in his head, and the body fell to the floor. Or, would've fallen, if Saku hadn't reached out to catch the body she still knew belonged to her friend.

"Ryou? Ryou?" She whispered, moving her legs aside so that she could pull him onto the couch beside her. Saku shook his shoulders, wishing that he'd wake up, say something, let her know that he was still in there, not that bastard Bakura. She breathed a sigh of relief when his eyelids fluttered and opened half-way, dark brown eyes looking at her almost guiltily.

"He got through," the boy confessed, as though he was expecting some sort of punishment. But Saku smiled and ruffled his long white hair, feeling a little foolish for doing so.

"But I finished the spell. He's gone now." She said, suddenly feeling as if she was lighter than the air that filled her apartment. Then, almost as an afterthought, the girl added, "So's Sesaat."

"Oh?" A familiar voice chimed from the back bedroom. The two looked behind themselves. There had only been two people in here, after all! Where had this voice come from?

Saku found herself staring at two individuals. One, a girl, could have been her twin, if it weren't for the slighter build and darker hair and eyes. The other was a boy, tall and thin, with mocking eyes and a sardonic twist to his mouth.

"We don't leave that easily, do we, Bakura-chan?" Sesaat said with a little giggle at the end. Her companion frowned, and the expression in his eyes seemed to burn with a sudden desire to murder the girl, but he nodded stiffly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_The following day..._

"Class," the teacher called from the front of the room, where he stood with two students, both rather familiar in appearance to the students. "These are your new classmates. If you'd care to introduce yourselves first, you can go sit by your, ah..." His voice faltered as the boy glared at him.

"Siblings," the girl provided, barely hiding a giggle.

"Ah, yes, those." The teacher continued, breaking away from the stare. The two new students shrugged.

"I'm Sesaat Toh, and I'm Saku-chan's sister," the girl said with a childish wave and a bright, almost overly-cheery smile. The boy snorted as Sesaat went to take her seat by the book-absorbed Saku in the back.

"I'm Ryuu Bakura. Call me anything other than 'Bakura' and I'll snap your legs off." Bakura growled as he went to his own seat next to Ryou, leaving the rest of the class in mild terror.

Saku smiled as she looked over the top of her book at Ryou, still sitting just across the aisle from her. "Ryuu was a great idea for a name," she whispered as their teacher reclaimed the front of the room. Ryou smiled.

"So was the idea of siblings. Explains a lot to them." He nodded his head faintly in the direction of their classmates, then looked at his 'twin'. Bakura, sitting with the Ring around his neck (having reclaimed it from his former host), smirked as he listened to the lesson.

Silently, the two friends gave each other a thumbs-up from their seats. They just needed to survive class today, and then they'd be free for an afternoon of whatever they pleased.

Which, undoubtedly, would involve scones, creampuffs, and a general lack of apprehension, for the first time in a while.

**_Fin_**


End file.
